Sword Art Online II – 24 (END)

While I typically like to leap straight into the final impressions for a show (especially a two-cour one), how can I not blab a bit about this final episode?

Mother’s Rosario

I don’t remember anything exhilarating from the first season’s ending but GOD DAMN did the second season do a great job at providing us a rather open ending for a possible third season while giving us the closure we needed. While I thought it was a little cheesy how Asuna somewhat forced the doctor into plugging Yuuki back into the medicuboid, every single moment afterwards had me bawling like a little baby. Specifically, I couldn’t hold back the tears the moment Nori came in and tried to be act tough only to have the tears start rolling down her cheeks. Hands down it was the most perfect sudden transition from a clear and tough voice to complete babbling. Mind you by this point everything was a bit blurry but I thought I was going to make it until I officially tapped out after watching all those players come and pay tribute to Yuuki. Anyways, let’s get into the final impressions!

Epilogue:

Final Impressions

After I managed to claw away this show from the other writers (aka no one wanted to do it because they’re all haters sans Cherrie), I wasn’t really sure what to expect. The second half of the first season had a lukewarm response (I personally loved it though) and you know something’s up when almost no one on the staff wants to cover a popular show. That said, even though what we got wasn’t perfect, I think SAO’s second season had way more high points than low points.

Things might have started off slow as we were getting re-acclimated to the story and its characters but as time went on I can honestly say it just got better and better. We were introduced to the world of Gun Gale Online, which housed Sinon and her traumatic childhood experiences. Together with Kirito she managed to not only find peace with her past but through all the trials she faced she managed to discover the true meaning of strength. Then there was the return to ALO and the Excalibur mini-arc that reminded us the show can be flashy and full of MMO-esque elements when needed (I could have done without the super trap turning into a huge and manly version of Thor though!). Finally to round things out we had the absolutely stunning Mother’s Rosario arc that managed to blend everything that the previous arcs brought and gave us something that was chock full of all the stuff that made the first season such a blast to watch.

So yeah, I would say this show was pretty damn good. I’ll admit that there was a handful of times where I wished the story would have moved a bit faster but I’ll just chalk it up to the studio trying to fill up all 24 episodes. Anyways, I think this second season was everything any fan could have asked for. We got to see more of the world that originally captured our attention while getting a harsh glimpse at the realities that exist outside of our fantasies, we met new characters that could give either Kirito or Asuna a run for their money, and the story as a whole was just as good if not better than before. I mean, what more could you ask for!?

While it’s a little sad to see that it’s actually over, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who’s been keeping up with the posts. It’s typically fun reading the comments and I’ll catch you guys around in the winter!

P.S. Is there a show that’s airing in the winter that you think I should cover? I’m going to have an extra space now that SAO’s done :(

The way you use a serious problem as a joke is really disgusting, well if you got infected at some point of your life please remember this comment, and probably a lot of people will be delighted on your behalf

At risk of adding to the fire, I think it comes down to what was said being rather disrespectful. I’m certain the OP didn’t mean any actual disrespect, or to insult someone, but that doesn’t take away from the insensitivity of the comment.

It’s like a white kid who hears black people referring to each other by a racial slur, so thinks it’s ok to refer to black people by it. There’s no actual ill-will, but it shows the speaker’s thoughtlessness and lack of experience.

Another example that’s commonly seen today is when people say “oh that’s so gay,” to speak down about something. I’m sure they only meant to denigrate whatever they were talking about, but at the same time, they’re also unintentionally insulting an entire group of people with a specific sexual preference.

While I see the cryarc’s response as an overreaction, it does make the point that people should take the time to consider their words before saying them. As in the case of AIDS or HIV, if you’ve seen how people suffer, you probably wouldn’t toss the words around like some kind of joke.

Perhaps one more illustrative example to make my point. If I were to say, “The OP was the 9/11 of jokes,” that initial visceral feeling you get of “How dare this person use such a tragic event where people died as fodder for a joke/insult” is the same one that people who have suffered from or have seen others suffering from AIDS/HIV get when they see the OP. Especially if, God Forbid, you lost someone that horrible day. (My apologies for using that as an example. It is not my intent to be flip, but rather to help others understand.)

I honestly do not know if you are trolling for a response or simply ignorant.

You obviously do not like this series, but yet you insist on commenting on the review, as the top comment no less. If you have this sort of time, why not elaborate more on why you dislike this series, because then we may have a meaningful discussion.

While I will not go as far as cryarc, that is a rather insensitive thing for you to say. In my profession, I take care of people with HIV on a daily basis, and it is not something I would wish upon anyone. Turning it into a joke is putting down people with the illness, and quite honestly, not funny. If you do not like the series, that is one thing, as it is fiction, but for many people, it is their whole reality.

Some people may say that I can be preachy, but this is one thing I wish to definitely convey, for the sake of others more than myself.

Also, is it us who don’t want to elaborate, or you enthusiastic fellows who always downvote us to death evading any criticism? You deserve to be trolled like that.

How is comparing a show to AIDS a legitimate criticism in any language? I would like to hear an explanation to that! One of my best friends has HIV, and I think casual jokes about it is completely rude and uncalled for! He didn’t ask for it, so why is it okay to joke about his misfortune!

At the time of this writing, TS has upvotes of 48/42 and MDK has downvotes of 4/19, so your downvoting to death remark is also untrue. It seems you are the one who are butt-hurt about downvotes. Maybe you should get that stick out of your pompous behind and learn about the world for a change!

So it is fine to joke about these things? If your parents are dead, would it be fine if I joked about your parents never loving you? If your siblings are homosexual, would it be fine if I joked that your clothes looking gay?

Also, when did I wish anything upon anyone? Cryarc is the one who said that, not me. I may be steaming mad at the immaturity of some people, but I will never stoop to that level. I feel like I will be insulting my friend if I do.

Bad jokes are still jokes made at other people’s expense. I don’t want an apology to me, but I DO WANT these so called “jokes” to stop and a proper apology to them!

People are so angry over a bad joke for no good reason. People also use “cancer” in conversations, not even as a joke and yet, I’ve yet to hear this twisted sense of narcissism. The bad joke is about the show, not about people with AIDS, about you, your friends or your family.

Levi, same with me. Like you didn’t wish anything bad to anybody, I didn’t condone a bad joke like that. The only reason we are arguing here is cause we’re on different sides of a FANWAR, which cause YOU damn fanboy to miss anything of wtf I’m saying. Read again and notice how you’re misunderstanding my writing completely.

“So it is fine to joke about these things? If your parents are dead, would it be fine if I joked about your parents never loving you? If your siblings are homosexual, would it be fine if I joked that your clothes looking gay?”

Depends on the context of the joke. If I read a comment or a joke about gays or dead parents from some random person online that doesn’t know anything about my dead parents or my gay siblings, common sense dictates that joke is not meant to hurt my feelings. My dead parents and gay siblings are automatically out of context by default. There’s absolutely no reason for me to get offended by it.

What you are trying to do here is to force inserting your personal experience in that context while it has absolutely nothing to do with you or your damn life experience to begin with.

Now you’re playing the victim card just because you know someone with HIV? Is it because his bad joke reminded you of sick friend and that makes you sad? I’m sorry for your friend now that hear about it but that doesn’t change the fact that this bad joke has nothing to do with you or your sick friend to begin with.

This arc deals with a girl struggling with AIDS. No matter if you like the series or not, the series still tries to take it seriously. I believe it was done a little overdramatically, but it still addressed it as a real problem.

The OP made a joke with AIDS as the focus. With the context of a show portraying it as a serious condition, suddenly comparing the show itself as that very condition undermines that message. I believe this is what upset Levi, because after AIDS was treated seriously, someone else suddenly treated it as a joke.

Blue had previously explained it best. There is actually a movie called World Trade Center, which used the 9/11 attack as the plot point. I personally think it was a bad movie, but if I walked out of the theater and told everyone that the movie was as bad as the real 9/11 and that the directors should die in a plane crash, I have not doubt that everyone will turn on me, regardless if they like the movie or not.

So in this case, the context of the joke was very insensitive to the real subject matter, AIDS and people with it.

That’s a very reasonable explanation of the perspective I failed to see. First time I saw the OP comment, the message I was getting is, he/she hates the show and what a crude person to say such comment/joke. I still don’t understand how people get so riled up over things like this.
Personally, I like this last arc. It’s so touching and it made me cry a little. Is it a worthy season finale? Heck no, I think it should replace the excalibur part, and go for whole different bigger and epic ending instead.

That joke’s been going around anime sites since the Aids Arc began. It’s my 6th time seeing it. I see people ignore it or laugh it off and move on. I’m surprised by all the violent reactions here. Didn’t realize RandomC readers were all so uptight.

WhyWai, To the contrary SAO is not only a highly popular one but a highly ranked one (unlike the anime, which is popular but much more controversial). IMO the production team has overused many many tropes and tried to insert things that weren’t there in the manga (such as the suggestions of romance between Kirito and Sinon) that I thought added nothing and were only annoying. I’d actually say that personally I hold the production team for this anime in very low regards and the strength of the source material is the only thing propping up this otherwise average (or even poor in some parts) anime.

@WhyWai there’s so many faults with the adaptation that I can pick out (especially season 1). they’re definitely cutting corners on some of the action scenes (so many stills, repeats, dust, short). biggest offender being Kirito’s “energy beam charge” at end of Season 1 (>_> not magic and not a sword skill. just animation team being lazy). not saying the LN was exactly exemplary writing but anything in the anime, the LN had or better for the most part while anime has some very questionable changes/additions (Kirito, stop with the acrobatics that make no sense and you would never do)

@Leaferickson you mean LN. and as far as I remember, most of the stuff the anime put into it was in the LN though it’s been a while.

AIDS is real and is still a problem just as it was years ago, even though we have found better ways to treat it. Support those you hold dear. ;_______;

Mother’s Rosario is far and away the best arc in SAO. It has the LEAST amount of story problems than the other arcs, Kirito is a supporting character, and it was the first time where the pacing was near-perfect and I actually rooted for the all the right characters.

There is indeed a whole entire arc that follows this one, and I hear it’s long enough to fill an entire season, so maybe SAO III will be animated someday.

This shot had no still drawing in it at all. Every frame was a literal new drawing, which this shot needed 100%. That can be taxing on an animator who’s used to including even one held drawing whenever a character isn’t “doing anything”, but it was effective enough for me to cover my mouth and finally tear up.

I had maintained a proper composure for most of the episode…
Then Nori broke and I just lost it.
Never watching the last 3 episodes of this season ever again, my heart simply doesn’t want to hurt again.
Ugh, I’m so unhappy

I was amused by how a lot of time was passed in the most lazy way as possible in the start of the episode. The official intro for the Sleeping Knights, the continued classroom attendance, the Kyoto trip…

The end of this arc (the tribute section) got me teared up (a little) as well, with Yuuki seeing her big sister once more.

ps. The medicuboid’s original developer’s name still gets people’s blood cold. Just saying.

although i liked these last episodes. they could have just skipped these. i mean asuna back story and development is great and much needed, but did we need to introduce a character for this and let her die again just to have some spotlight for asuna… this really bugs me allot more then i probably should

Think thats an issue you take up with the writers since this isn’t new material. Besides, doubt anyone would want an original ending or the beginning to what I hear is an even longer arc only to have it cut off short.

I think the most touching part of this episode for me was how everyone appeared to pay respect to Yuuki, even the boss-hunting guild whom they fought previously. It goes to show that even online douchebags can still be decent human beings when needed.

I think theres not much else to say that other people havent already. Overall Im pretty happy with SAO season 2.

Sometimes you really can’t do anything to heal or cure someone really precious, all you can do is help and try your best. The moment miracles are not applicable. I was one of those who wanted Yuuki to live on like she retains her virtual self like Kayaba and acts like Yui. I’m still hopeful, even she already departed. The second part of the second half of SAOII is the best ever.

There are many reasons for people to watch both good or bad shows. Someone can also be entertained by what they consider trash. Never heard about the saying ‘so bad it’s so good’?

SAO is just that kind of show, where everything is just so bad written and cheesy and wrong with its own fictional rules it’s even entertaining. Or at least it was. I must admit I didn’t make to the end and dropped this shit starting with Mother Rosario. Now, after reading about this poor girl dying of illness my interest has revamped a little. I suspect it’s the same old clichè to add melodrama to fake some kind of deepness of thought this show never had to begin with, just like with the episode of Asunas’ mom being a dick. I want to check this out.

@Solaris
While “so bad it’s good” is a legit reason to watch something, that isn’t really what Solace is implying. Whether you like the show or not, no one’s forcing him to watch it, so he didn’t have to see season 2 if he didn’t want to. Besides, if you’re entertained by its horribleness, wouldn’t you want it to keep going on?

if you’re entertained by its horribleness, wouldn’t you want it to keep going on?
Of course I can answer only in regard to myself. Solace’s reasons are just his own.
For what concerns me, I lost interest when the show became mediocre at best in Caliburn arc and dropped it at the start of Mother Rosario. What angers me is that I’d consider Caliburn arc the best arc out there. Finally it looked like a real anime about mmorpg and Kirito is finally demoted to what he really should have be from the start: A mere player in a mere party doing a mere quest. No more op primadonna for Kirito and finally anybody in the party had its own little time to shine. The story was a mixed rip-off from Norse and English mythology but even so it wa so dull, uninspiring, boring and mediocre. Yes, without any tragic premise and without its main char’s excesses, SAO just turns boring: That was indeed the true form of Sword Art Online. Realizing this I just quit it.

Fair enough, though I suppose that’s anecdotal evidence that the writer/staff shouldn’t change what they’ve been doing, at least from a business perspective. If the things people find so bad are stripped away and all that’s left is mediocrity, that isn’t really an improvement for anyone. Besides a legitimately crazy fan (Eminem’s Stan), probably the worst reaction for entertainment is boredom and indifference. As far as the mini-arc is concerned, ALO is based somewhat on Norse mythology, so it makes sense to use that storyline. I’d say it’s more of an homage than a ripoff, personally, and a decent way to throw in a trap.

Alfheim(r) has just the name from Norse Mythology. It actually recalls more the Land of the fairies from Old English Mythology, which in turn, came from Norse Myth. Moreover the King of Fairies is called Oberon just like in Shakespeare’s masterpiece “A Midsummer’s Night Dream”. That is to say Mr Kawahara, not knowing shit about European literature, just did a hell of a mixed mess of everything sounded cool writing this arc.

I found the Phantom Bullet arc weak in its writing, overly long and riddled with plot holes. A few well animated scenes salvaged its reputation a little bit, but I was rapidly going off the show during that arc (having liked season 1 – the first arc at least).

The Excalibur arc was pretty much a bad joke. It’s an MMO quest. I can do quests with equal or better plotting any time I want by logging into Final Fantasy XIV. At this point, I was about ready to drop the series.

Then we got Mother’s Rosario. My word that was good. Certainly ranks level with the first arc of season 1, if not perhaps a bit above it. It was actually a pretty interesting exploration of themes around the blending between technology and real-life. I’ve seen more high-minded projects try to grapple with the same themes and fall short of that.

SAO in general would have been better if Asuna had just woken up at the end of the first arc of season 1 and they’d moved quickly into Mother’s Rosario from there. Everything in between feels like silly shonen filler.

While my favourite SAO “part” will always be first cour of the first season, I thoroughly enjoyed SAOII. Both GGO and Mother’s Rosario (Excalibur was kinda meh, but it lasted only 3 episodes so it was ok). Nothing more I can say, simply because the series is made mainly for entertainment (and it served its purpose). Hoping for 3rd season and some news about this… Kayaba Akihiko? I’m not sure if I remember his name correctly.

In Virtual Worlds, you can talk in a Instant with Peoples around the World, become the “Me” that you want, without your Look in Real Life. Your Strong, you can cast Magic, you protect a Raid, you have a role in the virtual World. Your not need the dependency of Human nature like Eat, Drink and Sleep. You can run in sprint mode for hours. Yes, you can build a body your Like

In RL you get born with the Body. You need to Eat, Sleep and Drink. Pay rent for Home, food, cloths and so on. You need a Job to continue living. To pay your hobby to stay in the Virtual World. (Remember someday your old enough to take care of yourself. You cannot stay a life long a Child living on the backs of your Parents.)

Oh… there i am again. There is nothing against Dreaming, but do not forget to life in the Real World, and how it Works

You cannot raise “faction” with some stranger, like in MMO’s, that easy

Do not loose your Feet in the Real World. They must shoulder your Virtual Ego

In RL, Yuuki was ostracized by her classmates when they found out she has HIV. She was confined in Medicuboid and her only friends are those who are in the same condition as her, read terminal patients.. Until she met Asuna. So alot of people went to her final moment, since it is physically possible there in VR to invite people to see her before she disappear. It was meant as a surprise for Yuuki and the audience, but who knows, maybe Asuna and the Guild already planned it ahead. During her funeral, there were a lot of people who came. Save for her relatives, everyone else were ALO players.

So to answer your questions:
1. You cannot say that there isn’t any support in real life. In the case of SK Guild, they don’t want other people to get close to them cause they were terminal patients who don’t have much future in real life. In case of Kirito and friends, they do support each other, they hang out in the pub of one of their SAO friends. They go in the same school as other SAO victims.
2. Cause in the VR, they were all created equally, and time is their biggest asset, unless you are Kirito.
3. Except for the SK and Asuna who became Yuuki’s close friends, others went there to pay respect. It’s a cultural thing even in RL.
4. VR makes sick people live normally, as what Medicuboid offers.

Yes VR can be a Salvation for sick peoples that can not leave the bed or are bedridden. it can give them some Humanity back. But it can distance healthy peoples from the World, and turn them addict to VR. Unable to live in the Real World, falling into a Hole

i see it in this Light. VR has 2 sides of a coin. Salvation and addiction

Your points are correct. Their bound was tighter. For players that know her deeply she was more then just Pixels in a Game. She was Yuuki, her friend. But for all others she was a Sword-master, and done it out of respect

But i must admit, they thread her Death with honor. Let us all not forget. Our Time is just borrowed. We are not living for eternity

Unlike the previous two episodes, this episode was definitely all about Yuuki and it did make me cry, especially after seeing her real life condition in full, without the headset on, so even though we were looking at Yuuki’s avatar, it still felt as if we were still by that bedside. Seeing everyone else come (including other minor former-SAO-turned-ALO characters) along with the music and the words…

I see your point as I too felt like we were by Yuuki’s side during the end scene. letting her sleep eternally and having to accept her absence is a tough one to swallow. There was also the scene where she was out of her avatar and in reality barely able to open her eyes ether hit home for me and in some ways a bit much to take. If Konno Yuuki was an actual friend or someone one I knew to whom I saw how frail she has become, hanging by a thread, I’ll be looking for someone to blame.

That’s just your opinion and I prolonged this “effortless” writing. I do want to apologize but, I don’t think it’s effortless. The whole point to this episode was to create a response from the viewer, and it did.

have you seen Doraemon Stand By me ? if the response that Mother Rosary want to make is “groan”…. i shall applaud and say mission accomplish. but pardon me….

Asuna is all perfect idealized woman that all men wanks to (except me, i rather pick Lizbeth or Silica), but she can not do anything right as protagonist and can not inspire the viewer who amazed at her in 1st season hate her in second half 1st season and forget about her exist in season 2 GGO.

Nobita Nobi in all respect is all useless guy that everyone avoid to become, but he gave inspiration and act right as protagonist that everyone who sees his struggles would come to respect him.

this is saddening when asuna all perfect girl fails in all what nobita gave everyone inspiration. my mistake though… i know that SAO is just good for hentai material but it is wrong to expect anything from it.

Also, is it us who don’t want to elaborate, or you enthusiastic fellows who always downvote us to death evading any criticism?

I personally think the show was average, but from my point of view as a relatively neutral observer (neither liking or disliking the show), it would seem like the people who like it are the ones who are being downvoted. Almost every comment that is lit up in green or has over 10 upvotes are the ones voicing their dislike of SAO, while the ones with the most downvotes are the ones who say that the show was good. Not sure if this was the case in other episode reviews, but I would say that the so called ethusiastic fellows are the ones being suppressed, almost like the Bleach manga reviews.

In my opinion, I think Takaii should delete this entire thread of comments, as it is generating more flames.

Honestly, I agree in terms of most of the series. It’s far from the worst series, but I hardly think it’s a “masterpiece” like I’ve seen some go as far as saying it is. (The ALO Arc may as well not exist as it was, IMO.)

It wasn’t until Sinon, when GGO was starting, that I started to become more invested in the characters because we started getting development beyond stuff just related more to the game (with Sinon at least)…but then it got completely overshadowed and even trivialized by her suddenly clinging to Kirito and Kirito having his own out-of-nowhere PTSD problem shoved down our throats.

This is the only arc where I really can’t find that many negative things to say about it and really liked the characters we were introduced to. I can’t deny that one of the main reasons for that is probably because Kirito takes a backseat role and Asuna is given an actual chance to shine and develop with minimal input from him. He doesn’t come riding in to save to day (minus holding back that guild’s reinforcements) and seemingly solves her problems for her, but rather Asuna has to deal with them herself.

I know and see a bunch of people criticizing/flaming the drama, but honestly, IMO, I felt the drama felt the most natural during this arc compared to the rest of SAO, especially, as I said, Kirito’s drama in GGO.

The real problem is the usual stupid fanwar arising whenever someone shows up with any criticism. This is not limited to ‘liking’ or ‘not liking’ but with discordant comments generally speaking. People just reject those flatly without even trying to understand what they are trying to say, even before they can judge about some statement correctness. They are haters/fanboy so I don’t agree unconditionally and downvote before even reading. This is what the average hater/fanboy thiks without realizing how that way of thinking detracts from the interest of the community. Obviously this is what keeps discussion on a low cultural profile. Criticism is always the only way to add to a discussion because it stimulates insight thinking in both who a grees or disagrees. Independently on who’s right or wrong a good criticism let you discover point of view tou didn’t even think it existed before, and thus deepens further analysis. But negating any criticism reduces all of the discussion to compliments and jokes, like it has already started here.

SAO and shows of its ilk are what I call “critic-proof.” Sure, you can criticize it, but that’s just low-hanging fruit and therefore a waste of effort; no way does it warrant scholarly analysis. If you choose to do it, then that’s your prerogative.

It’s an inevitable cycle, especially with a show like SAO, which has very vocal fanboys and haters. Taking a more measured approach than unconditional love/hate is liable to draw flames from both sides, causing people to eventually give up trying to reason or pick a side.
If someone is dead set on seeing Kirito as a “super-awesome badass with a tragic backstory” or whatever, and you mention that his Laughing Coffin trauma came out of nowhere for seemingly the sole purpose of trumping Sinon’s trauma, while generally supporting the show, expect protests about how “everyone complained about Kirito being too perfect and now that they threw in some depth, no one likes that, either”. Likewise, if someone is sure that the “entire show is shit”, saying anything good (I like the OP/ED, or a side character, or the way X is handled, etc.) while generally bashing the show (Kirito, Kirito’s OP hax, plot holes, etc.), expect something along the lines of “no, everything from Shit Art Online is shit, and you’re shit for even liking the (OP/ED, side character…)”. It’s laughable how bad the extremes get, since what I just wrote would be a good example of using a straw-man argument, except I’ve seen several examples of stuff on that level with regards to this show in particular. Pretty sure I said on the first episode comments that I would sit back and enjoy the war, and this is what I expected would eventually happen.

It seems like those who dislike the show came out in full force at the start, but the up/downs have mostly evened out. Whether that was convenient timing, or some people really have nothing better to do than obsessively wait for a post on a show they supposedly hate so much, I have no idea. I will say that the “suppressed” haters aren’t exactly a tiny minority here, so I put little weight on that claim.

@ Eiichiro Oda
«Mother’s Rosario» (マザーズ・ロザリオ, Mazāzu Rozario?) is an 11-hit Original Sword Skill (OSS), compiled by Yuuki, for one-handed swords.
The skill begins with five consecutive stabs in a straight line from the top right to the bottom left. The user then draws their sword back performs another five consecutive stabs in a straight line from the top left to the bottom right. The two lines together form an X shape with their third hit overlapping. Finally, the user tilts their body and uses their entire strength to perform a last stab directly at the intersection of the cross-shape created by the former ten strikes

People that are trying to ridicule SAO right here, at this timing, are sort of like someone that crashes a funeral of a girl and says “good riddance, thank god i don’t have to see her anymore.” in front of people who are mourning.

Of course you have the right to say anything you want, but seriously, is it so pleasuring for you to poop all over other people’s vulnerable emotions?

I don’t know what side of the world everyone is on or if you guys are in the same country as I am. Its days before Christmas here where I’m at. This episode makes me depressed, I don’t think it was fair to kill off Konno Yuuki.

Not sure what to think about the episode, first part was good (sad), but after the middle part, I don’t know. The epilogue was okay though. It’s good to know that at least one of the Sleeping Knights survived.

As for SAO as a whole, I really liked the first part of the anime (first season) and this Mother’s Rosario arc. Can’t say the same about everything in between. Even when LN purists complained, I still like the first part. An adventure a day, while learning about the games mechanics. While Mothers Rosario I find interesting because of the contrasts to the real world. Especially how Asuna handled her mum.

My conclusion is: SAO isn’t the best anime of all, but it isn’t the worst either. A more accurate term would probably be over-hyped, by both sides.

It was such a significant improvement over the 1st season and let’s not kid ourselves here, one of the main reasons because of that is none other than the fact that Kirito’s OPness has been toned down and he even takes a backseat at times so other characters can shine. Obviously, that’s mostly true in the final & probably the commonly agreed best arc, Mother’s Rosario which could well label the series as Feels Art Online. It truly did great things for Asuna’s character and makes me think that Kirito might just be more interesting as a supporting character that help’s out every now & then than a main one.

The Calibur arc was undoubtedly the weakest but luckily it didn’t last long.

As for GGO, I enjoyed it almost as much as Mother’s Rosario tbh and might’ve enjoyed it even more if that cyberpunk virtual world was better explored. Death Gun is easily the best villain of the SAO series so far to me. The guy actually felt menacing and we often felt this through Kirito which,might I add, was also a good way to humanize him more and also made his cooperation with Sinon that much more enjoyable & interesting to watch. Sinon’s PTSD was handled quite a bit better and Kirito, at the end of the way, was still Kirito but hey, it was a step in the right direction and comparing it to S1, I’m more than content.

I went into this season prepared for an entertaining trainwreck, now I’m going into the highly possible 3rd season expecting a genuinely good anime.

The time expired, Kirito did not use Excaliber or dual-wielding (LOL, I’m butthurt that Yuuki won twice and that they keep saying Yuuki is the best swordsman in ALO.) Anyway, I’m a big fan of the series and I’d like to know what y’all think about this weird pattern that’s been bothersome for me. In Season 1(SAO), Kirito and Asuna seemed to be the in the running for the one of the best couples in anime and yet in the second part of that season, Asuna becomes sort of a supporting character and Leafa becomes the main female. In Season 2 (GGO), both Leafa and Asuna become supporting characters and Sinon becomes the main female, then she barely appears in the following arc. In my opinion, this story progression weakened what once was one of the best chemistry (KiritoXAsuna,)Don’t get me wrong, I still love the show but LN or the anime itself, the arc transitions need a lot of work. What do guys think?

Unfortunately, most anime that I seem to be a fan of appear to handle romance rather poorly. This series would fall under that umbrella to an extent. They still don’t really feel like a mature couple too me but that’s because apparently the LNs made these characters very young.

In the web novel that I checked out, the characters were much more mature and enjoyed an indepth relationship. But alas, the web novel was aimed at a much more mature audience then the anime which has a trimmed out a LOT

I don’t know why, but this one death has moved me more than all the original SAO series deaths combined.
Maybe it is because we got to know Yuuki more? Maybe ebcause of the heroic struggle that was her entire life? Maybe because deaths such as her actually happen in real life around us? I don’t know. But it takes much nowadays to move this old veteran anime watcher to tears.

The SAO arc (first 12 episodes or whatever) was still my favorite for this series and probably one of my favorite anime of all time. I really missed the tension and danger we had in it. GGO got a little close to that tension

However! I really enjoyed this arc. Probably liked it just as much as GGO if not a little more. We got some very nice character development on Asuna and learned a lot more about her. I really enjoyed this arc. I will miss this show

For me, while the 1st cour of this season was kinda meh same as the mini arc, this Mother Rosario’s arc kinda reminds me how good the 1st cour of the 1st season is (Aincrad Arc), 1st is the action where Yuuki and Asuna had a swordfight(in the 2nd ep of this arc) it is well animated and action packed than GGO which is meh gunfires and shit too boring including the OPness of Kirito, next is the storyline which is kinda better than GGO, which is a shitload boring because of too much information dump or whatever, because this storyline can be applied to real life situations like the AIDS disease and the way it focused more on Asuna than Kirito is kinda good for giving her a chance to shine at this series(thanks to Sinon Ass Online for being the main heroine for the 1st cour of this series), overall it may not be the best anime of 2014 but I recommend these to the future watchers of this series. 8/10 for this Mother Rosario’s arc. Overall I give this series a 6/10.

BTW can you cover KanColle, Assassination’s Classroom,or Absolute Duo if ever you want to cover some series for Winter 2015.

I had the luxury to watch this live whilst on holiday in Japan, and regardless of the quality of the entire plot, this episode kept me wide awake even at 2am or so. The art was very well done and so was the execution of everyone gathering around Yuuki. What was not quite well explained was why so many other players gathered together for her – I would understand if a few more came, but it would be quite difficult to gather that many players at such short notice.

I don’t understand why people rage against SAO. Is it because it’s so popular that you hate people who like it? I admit I like it, although there are some parts that I didn’t. If you guys who rant on this anime so much, then you must be so perfect yourselves, that you are so alone in this world. It’s just, it’s fine to dislike, say that you do but, also add the reasons or what you disliked about it. You guys don’t even watch it legally, why so critical about it.. Err.. not even critics, just all together haters.

“you know something’s up when almost no one on the staff wants to cover a popular show”
There’s really something wrong with the staff here. I know they don’t get paid for this or aren’t professional writers, and that this site is their volunteer work altogether. It’s just there’s something not normal about it. Good thing Takaii did it. Thank you Takaii.

Sword Art Online is not the worst show out there, but it’s much more dangerous than anything else because it’s so easy likeable. It would be easy to shrug it off like the usual garbage If this show was just bad, the problem lies with its own writing devoted to wish fulfilment for a lazy Otaku fandom. And while the purpose of this is indeed milking otakus while pampering them, it just does so levelling down the reference quality of anime. That is to say, if too many people fall in the trap, how else can the market respond unless giving us more crap like this? We’re not angry at SAO. We fear it cause it will speed up Anime downfall some day.

Thanks for the reply. You presented a good point. However, there are lots of anime studios in Japan that caters to different kinds of people. If you think SAO would cause a dangerous domino effect on the perceived anime quality, you might be wrong though. The thing about this industry is it would keep on creating stories because they promote art and storytelling to people in Japan, which are LN and manga. And by otakus, you mean to say the Japanese ones right? They’re their customers. They’re the target market. Outside of Japan, we are just people who want to import their product. But that’s not a reason why we shouldn’t give an opinion, I’m just saying that we are not the target demographics of their work.

As much as fans say that anime is for everyone, I don’t think so. I liked crap anime before because I was young and didn’t know any better and I was being entertained. But as I become aware of the crap that TV offers, I learn to stop watching. What I meant is, you guys must be getting older and becoming more aware of the things that is not for you. So, explore the world, there are other things more to do than to watch anime, and wait for that great anime that you’ll want to watch.

Of course I mean Japan’s Otakus. But beware that Japan is starting to open its own market towards foreigners too, pushed by its internal economical crisis (aka they need money and started to sell everything they have).
Anyway, I live in Italy and we have a very small and apathetic market. Every year the number of anime that can be imported is very limited. And one of the very few licensor in Italy are also wary of the fanbase preferences. Guess what came here last year fanbase preferences wise? Yes SAO. We had to pray for Steins Gate to be licensed for years before they bought it for us. They readily bought SAO instead, hoping its low standards could gather more fanbase, which didn’t succeeded to some extent. Luckily sales weren’t enough for them to be interested in season 2. I mean, with all the stuff they could have bought. SAO. It’s a curse.

I could understand where you’re coming from. Liking something that your own peers don’t, it’s quite hard for us to access things that we really enjoy. But be careful in intending to blame it on others. I mean, being blamed for liking something that you want, and that are legally right, is quite unfair. Anime in Italy might not be mainstream but there’s always a chance to watch online, CR. And as you said, Japan is now extending its market worldwide. Sooner or later, you can watch anything at your own convenience, legally.

Regarding that, the charm of Japanese stories that appeals to me is that they are Japanese. If they ever start to consider the market preferences of the people from the West, for me, I think it will lose its charm. If I remember correctly, Detective Conan’s mangaka said that he lessened the use of heavy Kanji references because DC was becoming more popular overseas. However, I think the fans wouldn’t mind to have that. There’s also the case of Final Fantasy. What the older gamers liked about that series is its classic games. The moment they changed it to cater to more action oriented Western gamers, people raged hard. Lol. FFXIII. Well, there are other sort of things but oh well..

I’m sure there are lot’s of great literary works in Italy that you can enjoy aside from anime. If the Japanese started hating on those, it would be weird.

You introduced several interesting issues there, Proof. Uhm… this will be long. Sorry for the TL;DR

1) Actually I’m not blaming anything on anyone, but I’m saying that we fanbase have a great power most of us is unaware of. We have the power to influence the market with our judgement What we like, buy and whatnot is a clear signal to producer and distributors on what they should work on. We’re not just the terminal of the production cycle, but our feedback grant stability to the whole system. If we start accepting anime with lower quality overall we’re telling the producer to continue that trend of levelling anime quality overall. Luckily, anime market is a mass market so, out of the bunch, we will always have granted excellent pieces and horribad pieces too. But the whole quality level will be always reduced.
And now you could ask me: “How can you say SAO is actually good or bad? You can only say you liked it or not, so you’re just trying to force your own personal opinion to us eventually”. This would be a reasonable question. A reasonable answer would be: “Mind your own answer and put it on the basket together with mine and any other opinion out there and try to summarize it if you can”. What everybody thinks about SAO? Is it good, bad? You see everybody’s opinion counts as one in such a process. A process that’s not well received here.

2) I guess you live n America, Proof. You’re way ahead of Italy with Crunchyroll and licences. Actually Italy follows behind full years, but thank to the effort of local licenser there are also experiments with web distribution, but it will still take years before fansub won’t be needed anymore. I really look forward to this, but now, fansub are still needed here or there worldwide.

3) Anime is anime but it’s a contaminated media like few others. This is why Japanese soul is syncretic. It means they’re very receptive towards foreigner culture, but are also very protective towards their own lifestyle. Trying to argument on such an apparent intrinsic contradiction is interesting but a little off topic here. Let’s just say that japan animation is tied with foreigner culture a lot, since its own origins. Just think about the famous studio Gibli’s Miyazaki. He’s very famous worldwide for a reason. His own anime are tied strongly with western culture. So what to say? I see what you mean with ‘japanese style’ stories versus ‘western style’ anime, but the border between them is blur.

I commend you in doing a great job in having a rich contextual conversation. I highly encourage this kind of exchange.
The next lines will be offtopic in regards to the post, so I apologise in advance.Show Spoiler ▼

1. It’s good to know that. In my case, I’m only considering SAO as one of the anime I watched, not as something that is front runner in the shounen industry. HXH would take that role for me. And we both agree that the fanbase can have a huge influence on the animation business. Unfortunately, SAO’s fanbase is more massive than others. What I don’t like is that people would just say horrible things to the other side just for them to ‘win’. What do SAO fans do.. they support the product, they buy, they watch, they create fanarts, they recommend it to their friends.. It’s those kinds of things that support the business.

2. I live in Australia but I can watch some anime in CR. There are also anime DVD’s available here for sale or in library where you can borrow it, though they have limited titles. I can also watch free anime embedded in TV. I guess there’s some variations around the world.

3. I agree with what you said. Hence, I also said that there’s an anime you can choose that fits your preferences. And the industry is not limited to the genre that caters the hardcore otakus. What I meant in what I said that ‘Japanese stories should stay as Japanese’ is, the more they broaden their scope, the more it’s harder to find the connection. As you have said, the Japanese had been using Western influences in their works, but, I thought of it as their Western culture’s introduction to the Japanese people. Not the reverse. Hmmm..

It’s been great to speak with you here but I’ll get busy later, and I’m sure you are too. So have a happy holidays there and enjoy!

Maybe because you never actually tried to understand nor do you want to? There are numerous essays out there on why people think SAO sucks. Read them. As someone who loathes SAO and what it stands for, even I can at least acknowledge why people can derive enjoyment from it, ironic or otherwise.

I know why some people don’t like SAO. I just don’t understand why people who had supposed to stop watching it, are in SAO forums, giving hate comments on each episode review. Bullying people who like it. Making insensitive comments. SAO sucks, yeah I know. It sucked big time in Fairy Dance Arc or in Gun Gale at times. And yeah I should say that to the fans that you shouldn’t watch/like it cause it sucks. Maybe they’re so stupid to realise it sucks. I want the world to know and and join me in my cause to bring down SAO and never ever show it in Japan. It’s an exaggeration but it’s the sort of feeling I sense from people who rage over it. Disliking is fine btw. I used the word rage, if you know the difference. though.

Why would one read an essay about why someone hates something? Even if I knew why someone dislikes something so wont that affect my own oppinion anyway. It’s even less interesting as most of the time so is the reasons given just nonsense as most people do not know themselves well enough or are honest enough to actually state the correct reason.

Why would one read an essay about why someone hates something
Oh, sure you should do it. There is more to learn form a fair criticism than from an infinite list of empty adulation. As a matter of fact when you like something you tend to overestimate what you like and underestimate what you don’t like. A fair criticism tends to be more objective in that regard.

Fair critisism may be interesting to read. But all the negative ones I have read about SAO have been full of nonsense. I could see someone who likes it a bit may be able to point out a few objective flaws. It’s a silly idea that haters are more objective then lovers. It’s like claiming that someone who can’t see the art in paintings is a better judge of them then an art lover.

But in the end, it doesn’t matter to someone who likes a series why someone else dislikes it. And even less if they can’t even pinpoint the true reason for their dislike.

The part where the server came out to pay their respects was extra feels for me, because it reminded me of a very recent passing in real life (see this Kotaku article: here. Similarly, players across many servers paid their respects to one of their own before they passed.

I look at it based on the words themselves. “Mother’s Rosario” (Mothers Rosary) or Rosary Prayer Beads given from Mother to Daughter(in this case Yuuki to Asuna). The 11 strike combo could also be a mirror image of the actual Pray (4 points for the cross and 1 point for each of the seven steps = 11 points). Now I may be looking at this to analytical being raised Catholic. Mothers usually pass on their Prayer Beads to their daughters

Valid point. One would think that a prayer would be use as a healing spell or power up as you stated. I thought the same thing.

I can only conjecture that the writer is using this as an offensive attack like some of those classes in MMO’s have(Priest/Pally)(I’m a MMO player and have played Priest/Pally classes). Those classes have offensive divination spells. That’s were I’m somewhat referencing too.

Which also makes me wonder why Yuuki who’s race is Imp(Inpu – Dark Fairy) and use Dark Magic. Would use what would be considered a light type spell based off the name. Again just conjecture on my part……Though I think its cool if that’s what the author intended.

I feel as though the writer has thought the same things we did, I use to be an MMO player myself but work is getting in my way. More to the point the fact that in MMO such things as a rossario would be considered a thing for priests. In which case that would make Yuuki a common character if she is a priest. Seeing how Kirito kun has dual sword skill, and Asuna San has great sword skill though a healer, why not give Konno Yuuki a bright personality that would fit a DPS class and a Rosary that is a melee attack and not so much as a hymn. (If any of this is slander towards Konno Yuuki, I should be shot).

I dunno if the anime made it clear, but Mother’s Rosario is the name of Konno Yuuki’s self-created move. ALO let people invent their own special skills, with the requirement of being able to do the attack without depending on the system. Then it becomes an official skill that they can pass on to others.

In other words, Konno Yuuki named her attack Mother’s Rosario because she did it in memory of her family.

I was thinking that some how Konno Yuuki’s personality isn’t typical. It maybe my imagination, and it probably is my imagination. The Character Konno Yuuki just seems different than the usual female character stereotypes.

I’m saying priest due to the fact that Konno Yuuki used a reference from a religion. But the attack itself is pretty cool or was pretty cool since she passed on. Unless, Asuna san uses it in the manga.

Instead of assuming she’s a priest, have you considered maybe Konno Yuuki comes from a Christian family? A rosario is something people hold onto, to pray, to help give them strength in tough times. Having the job of a priest is not a requirement.

Kirito until know was to much based on Hacks and Cheats. 1 Season he had the knowledge of a Beta tester, and he had some Admin rights. in the ALC World he started with a Hacked avatar (okay to avoid the grinding in the Anime and get right to Action). But i dunno, here in the West we admit someone effort not someone cheating without getting caught.

But yeah, even here there are some Boters and “Shortcut” Money buyers. But the Older Generation prefer someones effort above all

Just to clarify, in the LN, Kirito only used the SAO account in ALO to rescue Asuna. After the Rescue, he made a new character so that it’ll be fair to the other plays. Note he also gave his Gold away during the Rescue for the Slyphs and Cat Siths, so he had no Gold advantage, other than the amount of allies he made while being OP. So no only was not using his SAO account for fairness, it was so he can leave the SAO world behind him. Also, I doubt he’d want to have to worry every time a GM comes to the world that he may be character checked and found he was too powerful for a short time player.

@ Bunn28
” Konno Yuuki a bright personality that would fit a DPS class and a Rosary that is a melee attack and not so much as a hymn. (If any of this is slander towards Konno Yuuki, I should be shot).”

I concur I don’t think its a hymn spell attack. It should be a brilliant dps move attack, too which it is. I too, also believe that the author did a great job at Yuuki’s character.

“But the writer would have had to pitch Konno Yuuki in such a way, otherwise she be a generic preist with a big rack in which case I’m glad the writer didn’t do that.”

Rofl – All I can picture is Maria from Log H. (big boobed cleric)….lol. And I’m not knocking her as a character in fact I enjoy all of those characters.

@ Blue
You very well could be right, it could be just that simple. I wrote in I previous post as to why its called “Mother’s Rosario”I look at it based on the words themselves. “Mother’s Rosario” (Mothers Rosary) or Rosary Prayer Beads usually given from Mother to Daughter.

Just food for thought – If as you say, these unique skills can be pasted to others. Why wouldn’t Kirito pass on his consecutive strike ability from the Excalibur arc? Technically it doesn’t need duel wielding. Now I could be wrong and its “his” personal skill like dual wielding from the first arc.

I think, that we all want know exactly what the author is trying to portray but only he can really answer to what’s in his head

He can’t pass that one because it really is pure cheating. I don’t remember the details exactly, but I’ll try to explain.

Unique-Skill are person-created skills. The requirement is being able to do all the motions manually without help from the system, at a certain speed. Once that is satisfied, they are able to register the skill with the game system to create an official skill.

What Kirito did is actually taking advantage of the game system. (Such a beater, he is) It actually does require dual-wielding. He activates one skill and before it finishes, he loads in another skill to activate on the other weapon so that it starts before the previous skill ends. I believe in fighting games, the term is called “buffering.” Without the other weapon, he could not load the second skill before first skill ended, and the cooldown time would kick in.

In short, it wouldn’t satisfy the Unique skill conditions for creation because it depends almost entirely upon the game system aiding him.

I didn’t catch on to that he was buffering attacks. It looked like he was launching them within a second of each other to maximize case time (like predefined spell rotation in MMO’s). The deja vu flash back seemed to imply it was a unique skill. Like dual-wielding. Not an exploit….of the system.

Asuna and Kirito had sex, rite?
If they didn’t have sex in their physical lives,
(Seeing how strict her mom is, i’m lead to think that asuna has very strict curfew
and she is one of those girls who think sex is not allowed until college/adulthood.)
at least they did it within SAO game, rite?

Speaking of sex in virtual world, when it becomes a real thing in real life,
I wonder what excuse parents will use in order to keep teenagers from having virtual sex.
Hope they don’t use the lame excuse of
“it’s not like the real thing, it gives you the wrong idea”,
when that’s the whole point, it’s supposed to be kinkier and dirtier than real life sex.

Bold, I was hopping to avoid this topic. I’m want to see Kirito kun and Asuna san progress deeper into their relationship inside and outside ALfheim Online, and yes that includes getting into each others pants if necessary.

Darn, leave it for my ipad to delete part of the MSG. The point I was trying to make was that Demikas is too aggressive to associate with. I would prefer Konno Yuuki over Demikas any day, Even sickly Yuuki is better than Demikas.

Having watched and enjoyed the 1st season of SAO, is the 2nd one worth a watch? I really liked the 1st arc of SAO, in my opinion the 2nd was definetely worse.
Can I expect something new and better from the 2nd season or is basicaly the same, just in a different scenario?

Those are superficial reasons for this story(that’s bragging rights) and she realized that in her last moments. Her legacy, her “Name” was already etched in the hearts of those people that she touched. Her guild mates, all the people she fought before she picked Asuna, the guild they fought that tried to steal the boss kill. People she didn’t know but knew of her potential.

But you can’t deny that the “superficial” reasons had some part in touching the hearts of those she knew, recently met ( Asuna San) and new faces. Had Konno Yuuki and the S.Knights lost every battle, relies on Asuna san’s healing skills plus melee abilities heavily, will Konno Yuuki be remembered the same?

No I wont dispute that it means nothing at all…..but it not the main reason for the story.

Those are personal.
A names on a wall is just a name. Does it show a point of accomplishment or history?…yes.

However it doesn’t tell me who that person is. Every person that “Konno Yuuki” interacted with intimately will tell others who “Konno Yuuki” is. What she accomplished, how she was with them on a personal level. That’s what Asuna meant by “giving more hearts back to her when they meet again.

Had the the Sleeping Knights and Asuna never beat that boss or any boss. Her name not placed on a wall of “fame”. People would still remember “Konno Yuuki” as the person she was.

Remember, even she wondered why so many people came to her side at the end. They all respected her for her, even that cheating guild showed up with respect for her cause she kicked some major collective butt. I know I would for some one ready to stand against 20 others with only the help of a few.

She never backed down, never through a tantrum. She talked Asuna into opening up with her mother. She was always there for her guild mates. To me she was respectful to those that challenge her in one on one combat. That shows character. She gave in subtle ways she didn’t even realize it. Others did. That’s the type of things I would tell others and why I would remember her.

Accolades are fine but if your a D-bag. I would remember you as a D-bag and not talk about you. Its not what you do but how you do it.

I remember that scene where everyone came to see her right before she passed on, and even during the BBQ scene prior to her leaving. What is holding me back on agreeing with you is only Asuna san and her gang got to affiliate with Konno Yuuki and the S.Knights, I would be more satisfied with your reply had we saw other players got to work with her too.

And you are correct. Its only shown from that point of view due to time constraints. The LN might show more, I’m not sure.

The only others that Yuuki interacted with that we has seen was the single male fairy one on one fight before Asuna did and the 20(or so cheating guild members). We didn’t see the other 100′s of other single combat fights that Yuuki won. Fighting someone is an intimate act. It shows more than just strength. The crowd we see is cheering her on and other combatant. What did they see?

I see Konno Yuuki as a self strong individual, whom has confidence, honor, respect for other, out going and a giving person. I’m sure Yuuki’s demeanor would have been the same with all those, had that been shown.

100′s of people showed up in at the end. Why? I have a hard time believing that the author would have shown that just because of her name on a memorial wall for a boss clear. To me that’s just a lame excuse. There has to be more to it. That’s why I disagree.

Now I kinda wished the writer never killed Konno Yuuki off. It would have been nice to see Asuna san and Kirito kun in a dire situation during a battle and Konno Yuuki steps in at the last second to help with the S.Knights. Siune there healing the injured.

The moment Kirito along with all the warriors of Alfheim came flying down to give their final respects and goodbye to Yuki I started crying with all my heart, it was so beautiful. God Speed in your journey Yuki.

I prevented myself from crying I did tear up because It was a really good ending, Well worth a second viewing. (*_* ) Not sure if I can handle Yuuki’s death a second time though. I might just cry with out restraint.

I thought my emptional wass was going to stand firm. I didnt budge when the crying started, or when her friends started crying. What completely obliterated my wall was the leaders showing up with thier armies to recognize her as one of the best fighters to ever live.